Jen talks about how marketing isn’t just about scoring blog mentions these days but more about conversation. She demonstrates how Twitter has created a conversational environment free of the usual constraints of blogging and ripe for marketing genius. Gotta go now, me want chocolate.

Just a heads up that I’m flying out to Oztralia in the morning at some shocking hour – 6am or something – for a fun-filled 5 days in Sydney. which means I won’t be posting here for a couple of days as I’ll be too busy partying working.

I’m heading off to SMX Sydney to (wo)man our Search Engine College booth, give a presentation and meet some fellow geeks and industry rockstars like Danny Sullivan, Jane Copland, Rand Fishkin and Marissa Mayer. I might even catch up with some old friends and family while there. Old as in historically linked, not old as in ancient!

When we’re not (wo)manning the booth and dishing out rather boring schwag (sorry about that – but you try coming up with a witty t-shirt design at 2am), my trusty sidekick Sarah and I will be taking copious notes in the hopes of blogging some of the more exciting sessions next week.

If you’re heading to SMX Sydney, make sure you stop by our booth and say hi. Later!

Just a quickie for you today as it’s the Easter long weekend and I’m trying to stay away from the laptop.

Actually, that’s the subject of today’s post. For many of us working in the search marketing industry, burnout is a serious issue. Spending time away from our computers is difficult when we are so busy, but for the sake of our physical and mental health, it’s absolutely vital.

Christine Churchill’s timely post Ten Strategies for Avoiding Search Marketing Burnout reminds us to take a deep breath now and again, give ourselves permission to take downtime, get some exercise and schedule time for family and real life away from the computer. These steps help us avoid stress and the dreaded burnout.

Having suffered the physical symptoms of severe burnout last year, I am all too aware now of the warning signs. I encourage you all to heed Christine’s advice and don’t let burnout sneak up on you.

Woohoo! I just heard that this blog has made it into the Top 100 Australian Blogs Index. Yep, I’m at position #75 – not bad eh? If you’re not currently a subscriber, why don’t you help boost my subscription numbers a little and see if I can break the Top 50 in the next month or two.

Oh and if you can’t get your fill of interviews from Donna, my new friend Manish Pandey has started his own interview series. I was in his spotlight last week and he’s posted a transcript of our chat on his blog.